Rotary engine



2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

A E.'H.KRUGER;

(No Model.)

' ROTARY ENGINE. No. 374,543.

Patented 1m. 6, 1887.{}

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. H. KRUGER.

ROTARY ENGINE. Patented Dec. 6,1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Grrica.

EDWARD H. KRUGER, OF GRAYSON, KENTUCKY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,543,'dated December 6, 1887.

Application filed September 1], 1886. Serial No. 213,272. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, EDWARD H. KRUGER, a resident of Grayson, Garter county, Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following'is a specification.

The various features of myinvention and the advantages arising from their use, conjointly or otherwise,will be apparent from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a vertical central cross-section of my engine. Fig-2 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical central crosssection of the form of engine shown in Fig. 4.. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section of the engine when provided with triple cylinder.

The cylinder A is preferably placed'with'its axis horizontal, but may be placed so that the axis will be vertical. The piston B extends from one cylinder-head to the other and is mounted on the shaft O, which has hearings in the cylinder-heads C. The piston is cylindrical and eccentrically situated on the shaft. It is flattened somewhat at one side, where it fits against the cylinder. This flattened surface is equal to or somewhat greater than the distance between the outer edges of the steam and exhaust ports. Two packing-strips, d, are set in 'this flattened part of the piston, and may be set out by springs or anyother suitable means. The ends of the piston form steam-tight joints with the cylinder-heads. The piston preferably rests in these cylinderheads, and tight joints are then formed by packing-rings b. The interior of the steamchest H communicates with the cylinder by two passages, F and G, across the openings of which in the cylinder are the bars D, which guide the packing-strips d across the ports. The steamchest itself preferably extends over the whole length of the cylinder. It has a cylindrical cavity communicating with three pipes-via, the steam-pipe S and the two exhaust-pipes E E. Along valve, I, rigidly attached to the stem J, on which it is centrally mounted, is fitted into the steamchest H, making steam-tight. joints there.

The valve I is novel in construction and its shape is peculiar. Its surface is mostly cylindrical, fitting the interior of the steamchest;

but at its sides it is cut away, forming the spaces 6 e, which form ways from the cylinder to the respective exhaust-pipes E E.

The valve I is hollow, and three ports, K, L, and M, pierce its shell. The port K, being large, is preferably crossed by "a bar, 13, to

strengthen the valve. A fiat passage, N, ex-' tends from the steam-chest to the-cylinder throughout the whole length of the latter.

the ports K and L and passage F into the cylinder, where it exerts its pressureagainst the piston 13 and the plate P. The latter not moving, the piston is rotated in the. direction of the arrow. As the piston rotates, the plate I is kept against its surface by the pressure.

of the steam in the steam-chest acting through the port M. As soon as the piston has passed the opening of the passage G, steam commences to exhaust and the piston is carried by its momentum past the opening F, to again be acted upon by the force of the steam. Thus the piston continuously rotates in the direction of the arrow.

To reverse the engine, the valve I is rotated slightly. by the handle J until the port M is over the opening of the passage G and the port L over the passage N The space 0 then completes a passage from the passage F to the exhaust-pipe E,and the port K is still presented to the opening of the steam-pipe S. In this position of the valve the steam acts on the other side of the piston from which it had before acted, and the motion of the engine is reversed.

It will be observed that in whichever posi- ICO always steam-pressure on the plate 1?, which in consequence is always kept snug against the piston, securing at all times a tight joint.

The fact of the plate P being kept in position by steam-pressure permits the cylinder to be placed in any position. This is a very important advantage over rotary engines, in which the gravity alone is depended upon to keep the plate in position.

Although the engine, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, is operative, yet it is possible for it to stop on a dead-center. In order to avoid all possibility of the engine stopping on the center, I divide the cylinder into three compartments, R, as shown in Fig. 4, each one of which separately connects with the steamchest. Each of the three compartments R is provided with a piston similar to the piston already described. The three pistons are placed on journal 0, which passes entirely through the three cylinders in the relative position shown by the full drawings and dotted lines in Fig. 3. This arrangement provides that two of the three pistons shall always be under steanrpressure when the third is on the center, and, moreover, secures a more uniform motion.

When the triple cylinder is employed, the valve I may be made in one long piece, or it may be, and preferably is, divided into three parts, as shown in Fig. 4. In this form the valve'chamber is divided into three parts by the partitions T, which extend from the partitions which divide the steanrcylinder as far upward as the steam-chest H. Each of the valves I fits into its respective chamber, as does the single valve I, and all are rigidly mounted on the rod J. Two valves, U, are

provided, which are guided by grooves in the minished one or two thirds, economizing a.

proportionate amount of steam when the work required to be done is diminished. In practice, however, it is preferable not to shut off both end engines entirely, but to throttle the steam down to small amount, ad mitting merely enough to the end engines to carry the middle engine over the center.

Vhat I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rotary engine, the combination of the cylinder A, piston B, situated eccentrically on journal-shaft G, steam-chest H, provided with passages F, G, and N, connecting with the cylinder, and appropriate inlet and outlet orifices, plate P, fitting in passage N, and the hollow valve provided with the ports K, L, and M, and the spaces 6 e, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a rotary engine provided with three independent cylinders, each having an independent valve, the combination of the steamchest H and cut-oil valves U, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

EDWARD H. KRUGER. Altest:

O. M. HILL, W. P. GULIOK. 

